su
/su/
su is the Spanish possessive adjective for his, her, its, your (formal singular) or their.
Depending on the context, it can mean his, her, its, your (formal singular) or their.
Which one should you use?
Unlike English, the form of su depends on the number of the objects possessed, not the number of the owners. While su is used for singular objects, it changes to sus if the noun being possessed is plural.
How does it change in a sentence?
Use su if the possessed noun is singular. Use sus if the possessed noun is plural. Note that su (and sus) can refer to his, her, its, your (formal) or their depending on the context.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly try to make su plural to match the owner (e.g., 'sus' for 'their'), but it must only change to 'sus' to match the noun possessed.
Did you know?
- When talking about a part of the body, Spanish speakers rarely use su. Instead of saying 'his hand' using su, they use the definite article la and a reflexive pronoun.
- The word su shares a common ancestor with the English word 'self', both stemming from the Proto-Indo-European root '*swé' which denoted the reflexive pronoun.
- Because su can mean so many different things, Spanish speakers often replace it with de él, de ella or de usted to avoid confusion about who the owner is.
Examples in context
- Mi casa es su casa.Mi casa, su casa.Tatoeba #487516 by minshirui, translation #10098596 by shekitten
- Le presté su libroI lent him/her your book
- Su coche es muy rápido.His car is very fast.
- ¿Es su número de teléfono?Is it her phone number?
Example conversation
Mateo and María are talking about a colleague's new office.
- Mateo¿Dónde está su oficina?Where is his office?
- MaríaSu oficina está al final del pasillo.His office is at the end of the hallway.
- Mateo¿Es una oficina grande?Is it a large office?
- MaríaSí, su oficina es muy espaciosa.Yes, his office is very spacious.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry su, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries su, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
